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  • Waste Management – SWM Rules, EWM Rules, etc

    What is India Plastics Pact?

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has long been at the forefront of having an India Plastic Pact.

    What are Plastics Pacts?

    • The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives and transform the plastics packaging value chain for all formats and products.
    • The Pacts bring together everyone from across the plastics value chain to implement practical solutions.
    • All Pacts unite behind four targets:
    1. to eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation;
    2. to ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable;
    3. to increase the reuse, collection, and
    4. recycling of plastic packaging; and to increase recycled content in plastic packaging

    India Plastics Pact

    • The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September at the CII Annual Sustainability Summit.
    • It can be expected to boost demand for recycled content, investments in recycling infrastructure, jobs in the waste sector, and beyond.
    • The first Plastics Pact was launched in the U.K. in 2018.
    • The India Plastics Pact is supported by WRAP (UK based NGO), which supports many Pacts globally.
    • This association will ensure access to expertise and knowledge from different Pacts worldwide.

    Key provisions of the pact

    • Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
    • Integral to the Pact’s framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post-consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste.
    • While the India Plastics Pact will be active in India, it will link globally with other Plastics Pacts.

    How would this work?

    • The Plastics Pact is a network of initiatives that bring together all key stakeholders at the national or regional level to implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastics.
    • Each initiative is led by a local organization and unites governments, businesses, and citizens behind the common vision with a concrete set of ambitious local targets, for example in the following areas:
    1. Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation
    2. Move from single-use to reuse where relevant
    3. Ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable
    4. Increase the reuse, collection, and recycling or composting of plastic packaging
    5. Increase recycled content in plastic packaging

    Benefits offered

    • Many Indian businesses and organizations have expressed an interest in signing up to the Pact.
    • Deeper and long-lasting benefits will be felt across the supply chains of these businesses, most of which comprise MSMEs.
    • The Pact will encourage the development and maturing of the entire plastics production and management ecosystem.
    • Apart from benefits to society and the economy, delivering the targets will drive the circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution. They will lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

    Why need such pact?

    • Of the many sustainability challenges that impact societies, climate change and plastic waste have a special significance.
    • A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.
    • However, viewed from the angle of livelihoods, post-consumer segregation, collection and disposal of plastics make up about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.

    Way forward

    • For India, the solution must be multi-pronged, systemic, and large scale, to create a visible impact.
    • The India Plastics Pact focuses on solutions and innovation.
    • Members’ accountability is ensured through ambitious targets and annual data reporting.
    • The Pact will develop a road map for guidance, form action groups composed of members, and initiate innovation projects.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q. In India, ‘extended producer responsibility’ was introduced as an important feature in which of the following? (CSP 2019)

    (a) The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998

    (b) The Recycled plastic (Manufacturing and Usage) Rules, 1999

    (c) The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011

    (d) The Food Safety and Standard Regulations, 2011

     

    Post your answers here:

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Parties get 48 hours to publish candidates’ criminal records

    SC Judgements | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Representation Of People’s Act

    The Supreme Court has directed the political parties to publish the criminal history if any, of their election candidates on the homepage of their party websites under the caption ‘candidates with criminal antecedents’ within 48 hours of their selection.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. According to the Constitution of India, a person who is eligible to vote can be made a minister in a State for six months even if he/she is not a member of the Legislature of that State.
    2. According to the Representation of People Act, 1951, a person convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for five years is permanently disqualified from contesting an election even after his release from prison.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2020)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

    Post your answers here:

    Criminalization of politics: Indian Case

    • The criminalization of politics has become a headache for the Indian democracy and it is a harsh reality now.
    • Criminalization of politics in India includes political control of the police, state money, corruption, weak laws, lack of ethics, values, vote bank politics and loopholes in the function of the election commission.
    • Deep down, it’s a large nexus of police, money, corrupt bureaucracy, casteism, religion and the drawbacks of functioning in the election commission.

    On a serious note

    • The Supreme Court has warned Parliament that the nation is losing patience with the advent of criminals in politics even as it imposed fines on major political parties for covering up from voters the criminal past of the candidates.
    • Cleansing the polluted stream of politics is obviously not one of the immediate pressing concerns of the legislative branch of government.
    • The court said it did not take political parties much time to flout its February 2020 judgment, which had directed them to prominently publish the criminal antecedents.

    What was the Feb 2020 Judgment?

    The Supreme Court earlier in Feb 2020 had ordered political parties to publish the entire criminal history of their candidates for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

    • Reasons for nomination: It has also asked for the reasons that goaded them to field suspected criminals over decent people.
    • Publication of records: The information should be published in a local as well as a national newspaper as well as the parties’ social media handles.
    • 48hr time frame: It should mandatorily be published either within 48 hours of the selection of candidates or less than two weeks before the first date for filing of nominations, whichever is earlier.
    • Contempt for non-compliance: It also ordered political parties to submit compliance reports with the Election Commission of India within 72 hours or risk contempt of court action.
    • No escape: The judgment is applicable to parties both at Central and State levels.

    Immediate Reason

    • The immediate provocation is the finding that 46% of MPs have criminal records.
    • The number might be inflated as many politicians tend to be charged with relatively minor offences —“unlawful assembly” and “defamation”.
    • The real worry is that the current cohort of Lok Sabha MPs has the highest (29%) proportion of those with serious declared criminal cases compared to its recent predecessors.

    Why are such tainted candidates inducted by political parties?

    • Popularity: Such candidates with serious records seem to do well despite their public image, largely due to their ability to finance their own elections and bring substantive resources to their respective parties.
    • Vested interests: Some voters tend to view such candidates through a narrow prism: of being able to represent their interests by hook or by crook.
    • Destabilizing other electors: Others do not seek to punish these candidates in instances where they are in contest with other candidates with similar records.

    A harsh reality

    • The NN Vohra committee’s report on the criminalization of politics discussed how criminal gangs flourish under the care and protection of politicians.
    • Many times the candidates themselves are the gang leaders.
    • This protection is paid back to them during elections through capital investment in election spending and voter support.

    Need for clean politics

    • Upholding morality: It is extremely important that the people who enter the field of politics have a clear image and high moral character.
    • Ensuring rule of law: A leader with criminal character undoubtedly tends to undermine the rule of law.

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  • Oil and Gas Sector – HELP, Open Acreage Policy, etc.

    Ujjwala 2.0 Scheme

    Schemes | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Prime Minister has launched the second phase of the Ujjwala gas connection scheme for the poor and said it would provide the biggest relief to lakhs of migrant worker families in the country.

    Ujjwala 2.0

    • Under Ujjwala 2.0 migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections, Mr. Modi said.
    • Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
    • Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.

    About the PM Ujjwala Yojana

    • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
    • he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
    • In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.

    Significance of Ujjwala 2.0

    • LPG infrastructure has expanded manifold in the country due to the Ujjwala scheme.
    • In the last six years, more than 11,000 new LPG distribution centres have opened across the country.
    • The LPG coverage in India is now very close to becoming 100 per cent.

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  • Food Processing Industry: Issues and Developments

    National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

    Schemes | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India

    The Centre has increased the financial outlay for the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).

    About NMEO-OP

    • National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) was implemented during the 12th Five Year Plan, to expand the oil palm areas and increase the production of edible oils.
    • It was later merged with the National Food Security Mission.
    • NMEO-OP aims to resolve to allow India to be independent or self-reliant in edible oil production.
    • Through this mission, more than ₹11,000 crores will be invested in the edible oil ecosystem.
    • The government will ensure that farmers get all the needed facilities, from quality seeds to technology.
    • Along with promoting the cultivation of oil palm, this mission will also expand the cultivation of our other traditional oilseed crops.

    Why such a mission?

    • India is one of the major oilseeds growers and importers of edible oils.
    • India’s vegetable oil economy is the world’s fourth-largest after the USA, China & Brazil.
    • The oilseed accounts for 13% of the Gross Cropped Area, 3% of the Gross National Product, and 10% value of all agricultural commodities.
    • During the last few years, the domestic consumption of edible oils has increased substantially and has touched the level of 18.90 million tonnes in 2011-12 and is likely to increase further.
    • A substantial portion of our requirement of edible oil is met through the import of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.
    • It is, therefore, necessary to exploit domestic resources to maximize production to ensure edible oil security for the country.

    Alternative sources

    • Oil Palm is comparatively a new crop in India and is the highest vegetable oil yielding perennial crop.
    • With quality planting materials, irrigation, and proper management, there is a potential of achieving 20-30 MT Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFBs) per ha after attaining the age of 5 years.
    • Therefore, there is an urgent need to intensify efforts for area expansion under oil palm to enhance palm oil production in the country.
    • Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs), like Sal, Mahua, Simarouba, kokum, Olive, Karanja, Jatropha, Neem, Jojoba, Wild Apricot, Walnut, tung etc. are cultivated/grown in the country under different agro-climatic conditions.
    • These TBOs are also good sources of vegetable oil and therefore need to be supported for cultivation.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q.An objective of the National Food Security Mission is to increase the production of certain crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner in the identified districts of the country. What are those crops?

    (a) Rice and wheat only

    (b) Rice, wheat, and pulses only

    (c) Rice, wheat, pulses, and oilseeds only

    (d) Rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables

     

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  • Food Processing Industry: Issues and Developments

    [pib] Operation Greens Scheme

    PIB | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India

    The Union Minister of Food Processing Industries has provided useful information regarding the Op Greens Scheme.

    Operation Greens Scheme

    • Ministry of Food Processing Industries launched the Operation Greens scheme in November, 2018.
    • The scheme aims for integrated development of the Tomato, Onion, and Potato (TOP) value chain.
    • It aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and value addition etc. in identified production clusters.
    • Under the scheme, state-wise funds are not allocated as the scheme is demand-driven and projects are approved as per scheme guidelines on the basis of applications received for setting up of projects in eligible production clusters.

    Objectives:

    • To enhance value realization of TOP farmers
    • Reduction in post-harvest losses
    • Price stabilization for producers and consumers and
    • Increase in food processing capacities and value addition etc.

    Key provisions

    • Short term intervention by way of providing transportation and storage subsidy @ 50% and
    • long term intervention through value addition projects in identified production clusters with Grant-in-aid @ 35% to 70% of eligible project cost subject to maximum of Rs. 50 crore per project

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  • Labour, Jobs and Employment – Harmonization of labour laws, gender gap, unemployment, etc.

    The shaky foundation of the labour law reforms

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters,Ministries & Departments Of The Government

    Context

    The central government has deferred the possible date of implementation of labour codes to October 1, 2021, prolonging the wait before employers and workers could enjoy the benefits extended by the labour codes.

    Labour law reforms: Key provisions

    • The government enacted the Code on Wages in August 2019 and the other three Codes, viz., the Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and Code on Social Security (CSS) in September 2020.
    • Universal minimum wage: The codes would extend universal minimum wages and social security, enable enhanced industrial safety and the provision of social security to gig workers, among other things.
    • Recognition of trade unions: The Industrial Relations Code provides for recognition of trade union(s) by employers, a labour right that eluded workers for seven decades.
    • Flexibility to employers: Employers celebrated the extension of tremendous flexibility to them, even those unasked, such as relief from framing standing orders for most firms.
    • The central government has deferred the possible date of implementation to October 1, 2021.

    Issues in implementation

    • State’s have not issued draft rules: Major States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi have not issued the draft rules under any codes.
    • Even though the Code on Wages was enacted in August 2019, it was only in March 2021 that the central government notified the constitution of an advisory committee.
    • Safety concerns persist:  Industrial safety continues to be a grave concern even after the enactment of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.
    • Lack of clarity on the determination of minimum wage: On June 3, 2021, the government announced an expert committee with a tenure of three years to advise on minimum wages.
    • Then, on July 12, 2021, the government announced that the wage index’s base year would be shifted from 1965 to 2019 to use the revised wage index to determine minimum wages.
    • The Government seems to be facing difficulty regarding the implementation of minimum wages.

    Conclusion

    Despite the gazetting of four Codes, age-old laws are in force. That reflects poorly on the governance abilities of the governments.

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  • Oil and Gas Sector – HELP, Open Acreage Policy, etc.

    No fossil fuels as usual

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    Context

    The spread and speed of the destruction caused by climate change in recent weeks present our new Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas with a policy dilemma. The article offers five policy suggestions to deal with the dilemma.

    Energy dilemma facing India

    • The events of the past month all over the world have caught even the most alarmist of climate scientists by surprise.
    • These events brought into sharp relief the reality that there was no option of denying the consequential implications of the use of fossil fuels.
    • However, the dilemma India faces lies in the fact that the Indian economy is heavily dependent on fossil fuels and there is no end in sight to this dependence.
    • Further, India imports approximately 85 percent of its crude oil requirements and is exposed to the volatility of the international oil market.

    Five policy changes needed

    1) Reduce emphasis on domestic exploration

    • Not easy to locate and difficult to develop: A review of the public sector’s exploration and production (EP) track record suggests that whilst India may well be sitting on substantial hydrocarbon reserves, these reserves are not easy to locate and, even when located, difficult to develop and produce on a commercial basis.
    • The government has often compounded this economic challenge by placing administrative limits on marketing by companies and their pricing freedom.
    • High risk and structural softness in the market: The fundamental point is that EP in India is a high-risk activity, and this risk is even greater today because of the longer-term structural softness of the petroleum market.
    • The resources earmarked for exploration can be deployed more productively elsewhere.

    2) Increase productivity of producing fields

    • The ONGC needs to allocate increasing resources to improving the productivity of its producing fields.
    • Low oil recovery rate: The average oil recovery rate in India was around 28 percent that is, for every 100 molecules discovered, only 28 were monetized.
    • This number did not compare well with the global average of around 45 percent for fields of comparable geology.
    • Use technology: The application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology offers a relatively low-risk avenue for increasing domestic production.

    3) Increase strategic reserves

    • We hold currently strategic reserves equivalent to 12 days of imports.
    • The government has approved plans to increase this buffer to 25 days.
    • By comparison, China, the EU, South Korea, and Japan hold between 70-100 days of reserves.
    • A significant portion of our oil imports came from the Middle East, predominantly Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran.
    • This region faces deep political and social fault lines and there is no knowing when our supply lines might get ruptured.
    • We would, therefore, be well-advised to build contingency safeguards.

    4) Restructure and reorganize public sector petroleum companies

    • Consolidate upstream assets: In the first instance, the upstream assets should be consolidated under ONGC (the upstream assets of BPCL, IOC, HPCL, and GAIL should pass onto ONGC) and GAIL should be unbundled into a public utility gas pipeline company
    • Diversify: Thereafter, these companies should be encouraged to look beyond hydrocarbons to build an “energy” enterprise.
    • The restructuring will help cut back the “avoidable” costs of intra public sector competition.
    • It will also reduce the inefficiencies of “sub-scale” operations.
    • It will provide a focused platform for balancing the shorter-term need to provide secure and affordable hydrocarbons with the medium and longer-term imperative of developing clean energy.

    5) Avoid siloed thinking

    • The petroleum minister should not see his responsibility through the siloed prism of oil and natural gas.
    • He should broaden the aperture and become the progenitor of the energy transition.

    Conclusion

    The dilemma referred to in the opening sentence will be easier to resolve our priorities are set within the framework of clean energy.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Issues related to people with disabilities

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Context

    Twenty years ago on August 6 in Erwadi in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram, a fire broke out in a thatched shelter, engulfing 43 chained people who had psychosocial disabilities.

    Legal provision for the persons with disabilities

    • India ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007.
    • The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act  was enacted in 2016.
    • The Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA) was enacted in 2017.

    Failure of the states

    • Sates have failed to uphold the human rights of people with disabilities in general and those with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities in particular.
    • Only eight states/UTs — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala, and West Bengal — have framed rules for implementation of MHCA.
    • Unless we implement the law in letter and spirit, the Global Mental Health Movement will remain a mere buzzword and the CRPD-reliant MHCA will remain a law only on paper.

    Violations of rights in private asylums

    • Private asylums survive because of their close proximity to faith-based healing centres.
    • Because mental health conditions carry a high stigma, caregivers flock to these faith-based facilities in the hopes of finding a cure.
    • Private players take advantage of their vulnerabilities, forcing such persons with psychosocial issues to be grouped together and chained in these shelters.
    • Chaining in any way or form is outlawed under Section 95 of the MHCA.

    Way forward

    • Human right approach: We must work to ensure that the human rights approach to disability is integrated into mental health systems, education, law, and bureaucracy.
    • We move away from pathologisation, segregation, and a charity-based approach.

    Conclusion

    Implementation of rights of the persons with disability needs implementation in letter and spirit and human rights based approach.

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  • Waste Management – SWM Rules, EWM Rules, etc

    A circular economy for plastic

    op-ed snap | | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Context

    The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September at the CII Annual Sustainability Summit.

    Issue of plastic waste

    • A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.
    • Connection with livelihood: Viewed from the angle of livelihoods, post-consumer segregation, collection and disposal of plastics make up about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.
    • For India, the solution must be multi-pronged, systemic, and large scale, to create a visible impact. The Plastics Pacts model offers such a solution.

    About Plastics Pacts model

    • Business-led initiative: The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives and transform the plastics packaging value chain for all formats and products.
    • The Pacts bring together everyone from across the plastics value chain to implement practical solutions.
    • Integral to the Pact’s framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post-consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste. 
    • All Pacts unite behind four targets:
    • 1) To eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation.
    • 2) To ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable.
    • 3) To increase the reuse, collection, and recycling of plastic packaging.
    • 4) To increase recycled content in plastic packaging.
    • It is active in a number of countries including the U.K., South Africa, and Australia.
    • The first Plastics Pact was launched in the U.K. in 2018, by WRAP, a global NGO based in the U.K.
    • It is now being brought to India by CII and WWF India.

    Advantages

    • Economic advantage: It can be expected to boost demand for recycled content, investments in recycling infrastructure, jobs in the waste sector, and beyond.
    • Support EPR framework: The Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
    • The India Plastics Pact focuses on solutions and innovation.
    • Plastic production and management development: The Pact will encourage the development and maturing of the entire plastics production and management ecosystem.
    • Drive circulatory of plastic: Apart from benefits to society and economy, delivering the targets will drive the circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution.

    Conclusion

    The India Plastics Pact will benefit society, the economy and the environment.

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  • Indian Ocean Power Competition

    Five-point Framework for Maritime Security

    IOCR | Security Issues | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

     

    A week into India’s United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presidency, PM Modi has outlined a five-point framework for maritime security debate at UNSC.

    Maritime Security

    • Maritime security is one of the latest buzzwords of international relations.
    • Major actors in maritime policy, ocean governance and international security have in the past decade started to include maritime security in their mandate or reframed their work in such terms.
    • Core dimensions of maritime security involves the concept of blue economy, food security and the resilience of coastal populations.
    • A secure maritime environment provides the precondition for managing marine resources.

    Threats to maritime security

    Need for an agenda

    • In today’s economy, the oceans have an increased importance, allowing all countries to participate in the global marketplace.
    • More than 80 percent of the world’s trade travels by water and forges a global maritime link.
    • About half the world’s trade by value, and 90 percent of the general cargo, are transported in containers.
    • Many countries have invested significant resources in maritime infrastructure, trade, energy supply chains, cargo movements and processes.
    • China, undeniably a continental country, claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters.

    5-point agenda for enhancing maritime cooperation

    [1] Removal of barriers to legitimate maritime trade:

    • Global prosperity depends on the active flow of maritime trade. Any hindrance in maritime trade can threaten the global economy, PM said.
    • Maritime trade has always been part of the civilizational ethos of India.
    • PM termed this principle as ‘SAGAR’ Security and Growth for All in the Region.

    [2] Resolution of maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law:

    [3] Fight threats from natural disasters, non-state actors:

    • PM said the Indian Navy has been patrolling to counter piracy in the Indian Ocean since 2008.
    • It is enhancing the common maritime domain awareness of the region through our White Shipping Information Fusion Centre.
    • India has provided support for hydrographic surveying and training of maritime security personnel to several countries.

    [4] Conservation of marine resources:

    • Our oceans directly impact our climate. Hence, it is very important that we keep our maritime environment free of pollutants like plastic waste and oil spills.
    • We also need to take joint steps against over-fishing and marine poaching, PM said.
    • He also emphasized the need for increased mutual cooperation in Ocean Science research.

    [5] Promoting responsible maritime connectivity:

    • PM said it is well understood that the creation of infrastructure is necessary to boost maritime trade.
    • He advocated for appropriate global norms and standards to ensure that such infrastructure projects are carried out as per the fiscal sustainability and absorption capacity of the host countries.

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